Vanguard News




BENIN—IJAW people in Edo State, Monday, vowed not to relinquish what they described as their land and identity to the Benin ethnic group.

Admonishing the state government to halt what they called expropriation of Gelegelegbene, on the platform of Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative, IPDI, they cautioned Governor Godwin Obaseki to avert an imminent crisis.



National President of the group, Austin Ozobo, in a statement, said the Ijaw would not mortgage their identity under any guise.

His words: “It will be better to retain the Ijaw identity in Edo State than trade it for a seaport with another man’s identity as such amounts to slavery.

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“It is on record that the Benin monarch does not rule over Gelegelegbene community, its lands, rivers, forests, and other Edo-Ijaw in Edo State since time immemorial.

“Ijaw of Gelegelegbene community are from Olodiama kingdom. Others are from Egbema, Okomu, Gbaraun and Furupagha kingdoms. The Benin monarch has no sovereign rights to rename Gelegele seaport, as the location of the project did not fall within his kingdom.

‘’The powers of Oba of Benin end in Benin kingdom where he rules. He has no right to usurp the affairs of Ijaw kingdoms in the state. Therefore, allowing Governor Obaseki to rename Gelegele seaport with a Benin name amounts to slavery and it equally means conceding a part of Ijaw land to Benin.

“We want to re-emphasise that the Ijaw in Edo State are not Benin people, but bonafide Ijaw-speaking people. They have been where they are in the state for centuries. They were in the current Edo State before the arrival of the Benin migrants.

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“They (Bini people) met Ijaw people at Gelegelegbene and begged for help to be ferried to the other side and out of magnanimity, we ferried them to where they are now. This is recorded in all the history books and it was affirmed by renowned Benin writers.

“However, there is a tendency that Benin migrants who escaped from Ile-Ife may have married Ijaw women from Gelegelegbene community and other Ijaw communities to have raised Benin kingdom as there is no historical record showing that the Yoruba fleeing migrants arrived in Gelegelegbene with a wife.

“What is expected, therefore, is that the Obaseki-led Edo State government should have direct dealings with Gelegelegbene, other Ijaw host communities and the various Ijaw monarchs where this seaport project is located.”

This ijaw people talk as if they are drunk.. that's there trademark anyway.

The gengegele port is in Benin land not ijaw, ijaw is only dominate in bayelsa state..

I think this ijaw people don't want progress seeing as bayelsa state is one of the poorest state in Nigeria, with the smallest land mass and the highest allocation from federal government, with a former president from there.. it's still backward..


Obaseki has been handling them lightly, he needs to be firm and throw them out

This ijaw people are like the Fulani of the south..

Everyone know edo state, Bini kingdom is home for everyone..

The ijaw are riverine people, when they came to Bini they begged the oba for accommodation, he gave them....

The gengegele port is for everyone not ijaw own..

As far as the land is in edo state, it belong to edo state government..

They can't even develop their small bayelsa

Ijaw madness once again, please we need to teach these ijaw people a lesson which they will not forget.
It is as if they ignore the fact that Edo itself is a Benin word and it means citizens of Benin Kingdom.
It is as if they forgot that what we now call Edo-stae and Delta state used to be refferred to as Benin province in the colonial era.
It is as if they can not pick up a pre-colonial map to notice that Bendel was just a small part of Benin Kingdom in pre-colonial days.
Nope, all they can do is bring up the yoruba myth of ile ife, and say they personnally witnessed it. Regardless of the fact that the first european vistors to the region met Benin Kingdom already established and that was more than 600 years ago. So when exactly did the claimed migration take place, are these ijaws time travellers ? Indeed, if any such migration took place then it must have taken place more than 600 years ago (given that eye witness account of more than 600 years ago prove that Benin Kingdom was already around).
I guess the average age of an ijaw is 600 years.
Idiots, please let us teach these guys a lesson.